Category: Bicycling

A look at Fresno’s first protected bicycle lane

It has finally happenedFresno has a protected bicycle lane! The new lane is located downtown, on R Street between Ventura Street and Tulare Street. The roadway previously did not have bicycle lanes, but had one lane in each direction, parking, and a central turn lane. The central turn lane was removed, the parking was moved out from the curb, and bicycle lanes were added between the curb and the parked cars. Additionally, regular bicycle lanes and sharrows were added between Tulare Street and Fresno Street, providing a link to Community Hospital.

protected map
The new lane is between the two stars

I’m not quite sure why this was chosen as Fresno’s first protected bike lane. Many years ago, there were talks of protected lanes on Fulton and Van Ness, connecting Downtown and the Tower district. Those were never built. This lane is a bit out of the way, but that may be intentional, as no one is around to NIMBY it. Now that it is in place, the city can point to it as an existing product, instead of a hypothetical, when it comes to future implementation. Click to read more!

Public Meeting for Proposed Palm Avenue Bikeway

Will Fresno finally get a protected bikeway, like in the San Francisco photo above? They’ve been talked about in the past, including a proposed couplet on Fulton and Van Ness that never came to be. But tomorrow there will be a public meeting on a new proposed bikeway along Palm and Belmont. See the flyer:

Zoom link:

https://zoom.us/j/99170680769

If you can’t attend, a survey is available online:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/T5NNCCS?fbclid=IwAR3SwCMBRx6tPoZT2UlWW2aKDP5RsPvzxNToWGRZC6d8072AQtnGvAF38NA

Make sure your voice is heard! There’s been almost zero progress on bike projects in Fresno over the last five years, so this could be a much-needed push. Click to read more!

Fresno COGS asking for feedback on 2020 Fresno County Regional Trails Plan

The Fresno Council of Governments and Fresno County are developing the 2020 Fresno County Regional Trails Plan, which will create recommendations for the ongoing development of new trail connections that create a safe, comfortable, and connected network for walking/hiking, off-road biking and horseback riding.

Note: Don’t confuse this with the Trail Network Expansion Feasibility Plan, which is a CITY of Fresno plan. This new plan is for the entire county and will focus on unpaved recreational trails and paved shared-use paths in Fresno County, including county areas within Fresno.

There’s two ways for you to comment, a survey and a map. They both can be found on this page. You do the simple survey first, and then get shown a map of existing trails. You can then click on segments and make comments. For example, you can tell them that the Van Ness trail is not very useful. Once you’re done commenting on existing trails, you can draw your own preferred future trails. Click to read more!

Fresno is asking for public comments on the “Trail Network Expansion Feasibility Plan”

The City of Fresno recently published their draft (PDF) of the “Trail Network Expansion Feasibility Plan,” and they are looking for public comments until November 12, 2019.

According to the city:

The Fresno Trail Network Expansion Feasibility Plan (Plan) builds on the City of Fresno’s efforts to develop the Class I bikeway (trails) network proposed in the adopted 2016 Fresno Active Transportation Plan. The goal of the project is to prioritize all planned but currently unfunded trails, to select five corridors, roughly five miles in length, and to develop concept designs and analyze the feasibility for the five selected corridors. The resulting recommendations will help the City begin to build out its trail network. Click to read more!

Thoughts on proposed Clovis Trail Bridge

I was not able to attend the meeting last week, but I did get a hold of the presentation. As a reminder:

The City is interested in hearing from residents, business owners, special interest groups, and any other parties on the draft plan. The proposed project is intended to focus on the need, feasibility, and future development of a Class I trail/pedestrian bridge along the Enterprise Canal, extending south of Owens Mountain Parkway, and over State Route 168, which will serve to link the commercial, residential, Clovis Community Medical Center Complex, and business campuses in the immediate area.

Before we look at the details, something important to note: Don’t expect this any time soon.

trail1

Most likely, they will apply for funding under the Active Transportation Program.

The Cycle 4 Call for Projects is expected to include about $440M in ATP funding made up of Federal funding and State SB1 and SHA funding.  The funding/programming years are expected to include 19/20, 20/21, 21/22 and 22/23 funding years. Click to read more!

Clovis: Public Meeting on Proposed Trail Bridge 1/24/2018

A bit late notice, but looks like Clovis is finally moving forward with plans on connecting the trails near Clovis Community Hospital, which are separated by CA-168.

Date: Wednesday, January 24, 2018
Time: 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Location: Miss Winkles Pet Adoption Center
85 N Temperance Ave, Clovis, CA 93611

Notice:
http://www.ci.clovis.ca.us/Portals/0/Documents/Planning/Public%20Workshop%20Announcement.pdf?ver=2018-01-12-164853-177

The City is interested in hearing from residents, business owners, special interest groups, and any
other parties on the draft plan. The proposed project is intended to focus on the need, feasibility,
and future development of a Class I trail/pedestrian bridge along the Enterprise Canal, extending
south of Owens Mountain Parkway, and over State Route 168, which will serve to link the
commercial, residential, Clovis Community Medical Center Complex, and business campuses in
the immediate area. Click to read more!

The best bicycle infrastructure in the country…is in Florida?

When it comes to transportation, most agree that things work best when every mode gets their own exclusive right of way. Mixing cars, buses, bikes, pedestrians, and trains results in poor or dangerous experiences for all. The speeds of the various modes aren’t the same, which generate conflict, and the patterns of travel are different as well.=&0=&

A quick primer on “smart dock” vs “smart lock” bike share systems

Bike share finally came to Portland, Oregon this week, and the system has already proven to be popular. At this point, bike share in the US is no longer a novelty, as successful systems are integrated into the day-to-day life of dozens of major cities.=&0=&